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<blockquote data-quote="PapersAndPaychecks" data-source="post: 5416158" data-attributes="member: 28854">The most comprehensive treatment of henchmen per se is the 1e DMG, which has pages and pages and pages about how to hire henchmen.&nbsp; Not so much about how to manage them.&nbsp; It also has pages and pages about how to build a stronghold, but not so much about how to run it once it's built.I think the original vision for henchmen and strongholds was as money-sinks for rich, high-level characters so as to keep the characters hungry and going back to the dungeon for more.&nbsp; And I think to the extent that post-1e editions had these things, they were there because they were D&amp;D tropes, not because anyone had done much thinking about how they'd work in play.I think the underlying engine you want -- ascending AC and unified mechanic, but without at-wills, diplomacy or DC and retaining a lot of Moldvay/Cook's clean simplicity -- could be exapted from <a href="http://www.basicfantasy.org/main.html" target="_blank">Basic Fantasy</a>.&nbsp; You'd need to add on the conditions.The high-level gameplay you want sounds reminiscent of Traveller, except in a fantasy paradigm (so with castle-building instead of starship-building).&nbsp; There are intelligible rules for running a mercenary outfit (band of henchmen), trade, exploration etc. at a level that's more &quot;zoomed out&quot; than D&amp;D's.&nbsp; But making it work for fantasy would involve substantial rewriting.&nbsp; :\</blockquote>

[QUOTE="PapersAndPaychecks, post: 5416158, member: 28854"] The most comprehensive treatment of henchmen per se is the 1e DMG, which has pages and pages and pages about how to hire henchmen. Not so much about how to manage them. It also has pages and pages about how to build a stronghold, but not so much about how to run it once it's built. I think the original vision for henchmen and strongholds was as money-sinks for rich, high-level characters so as to keep the characters hungry and going back to the dungeon for more. And I think to the extent that post-1e editions had these things, they were there because they were D&D tropes, not because anyone had done much thinking about how they'd work in play. I think the underlying engine you want -- ascending AC and unified mechanic, but without at-wills, diplomacy or DC and retaining a lot of Moldvay/Cook's clean simplicity -- could be exapted from [url=http://www.basicfantasy.org/main.html]Basic Fantasy[/url]. You'd need to add on the conditions. The high-level gameplay you want sounds reminiscent of Traveller, except in a fantasy paradigm (so with castle-building instead of starship-building). There are intelligible rules for running a mercenary outfit (band of henchmen), trade, exploration etc. at a level that's more "zoomed out" than D&D's. But making it work for fantasy would involve substantial rewriting. :\ [/QUOTE]

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